Just a little something
by tahmtahm
Summary: As Christmas is fast approaching, the crew is getting into the holiday spirit - all but one, that is.
1. Chapter 1

Just a little something

Trip smiled at all of the lights and decorations strung up in the Mess Hall. He loved Christmas, he had such wonderful memories of when he was a kid. He heard a familiar voice from across the room and turned.

Hoshi had her hands on her hips and was shaking her head, "It's not straight, Lt." she pointed out.

Malcolm Reed sighed deeply and gave her a stern look, "It's as straight as this crooked tree is going to get." He shook his head and gave the star on top of the tree a steely glare. _Why did Starfleet send them a crooked tree? _He knew it had taken them a bit of doing to get it out here to them, but he was the one that was stuck with the problem.

"Maybe you should try and tilt the base again." Hoshi suggested, oblivious to how frustrated the Tactical Officer was getting.

Malcolm closed his eyes and counted to ten in order not to lose his temper. Captain Archer had assigned him to decorating the Mess Hall with Ensign Sato today to "boost his morale". Granted, he'd been in a foul mood lately - but this was definitely not helping the situation. If anything, it had darkened his mood. Ensign Sato was a task master when it came to decorating.

Put the tree there, Lt.

No, it will look better over there, Lt.

The lights need to drape around the room, Lt. - not be pulled tight. On and on, she went.

He'd had enough. Malcolm took the star off the tree and climbed down the ladder. "Ensign, I think you need to find someone else to help you finish this task." he handed her the star and walked out of the Mess Hall.

Trip walked over to Hoshi and raised an eyebrow, "What just happened?"

She shook her head, "I think he just quit." she said softly.

Trip frowned. Malcolm never quit. He always finished whatever task was assigned to him. He knew Malcolm had been reclusive lately, but this certainly wasn't like him. "I'll go talk to him later. What can I help you with?" he gave her that devilishly handsome smile of his.

Hoshi grinned, "Well, the tree is crooked." she waved a hand at the tree.

Trip focused on the tree and grimaced. The base was straight, but then it curved to an awkward thirty-five degree angle at the top. "Well, that's interesting. Let me go get some tools."


	2. Chapter 2

Just a little something

Chapter 2

Lt. Malcolm Reed had been back on the bridge exactly three minutes when the little icon at his station started to blip a warning at him that there was a power fluctuation in one the units in the Armory. He sighed softly and called for Ensign Deitrich to come and take over his station on the bridge so he could investigate the problem.

Deitrich arrived and he quickly headed down to the Armory.

Malcolm briefly wondered if this was the day he would get absolutely nothing done on his to-do list. He even had a short list today: 1) Three mile run on the treadmill before breakfast, interrupted because the treadmill lost power at mile 1.2 and unceremoniously dumped him off the back end. Luckily, no one else was around at 0500 to see his humiliation; 2) Senior Officer Weapon Qualification at 0900, postponed until a later date because the cargo vessel arrived with the special delivery of holiday merriment for the crew. Captain Archer had been in the Armory when the message came from the bridge, saw the frown on Malcolm's face, and promptly prescribed him the duty of helping Hoshi with the decorations in the Mess Hall; and 3) Complete the Tactical and Armory Duty Roster for next week at 1600, now pushed back until after supper because of the power fluctuation.

He activated his scanner as he arrived in the Armory and isolated the wall panel that held the problem. He pulled off the panel and set it down and ran his scanner over the unit inside. It looked like an easy fix, he'd just have to pull the unit out, do a quick diagnostic, and re-initialize the programming. If that didn't work, they had a spare that he could switch it out with. He quickly unhooked the two release latches and tugged. The unit did not budge. He stuck himself into the wall panel and shined his pen light around the unit. He spotted a third latch and frowned. It was in a rather awkward spot. He sat down and leaned against the wall and stretched his arm out between the wall and the unit to reach the latch.

_Bloody hell_! he cursed himself as he felt metal slicing his forearm. He grabbed hold of the latch and pulled. He quickly removed his arm and grabbed a towel to slow the bleeding. He went back to the unit and tugged, thankfully it came out.

"Lieutenant, what happened?" Ensign Tighe questioned as she came in for her duty shift.

"I got a cut when I went to unlatch this unit, I'll be fine." he tried to downplay the fire burning up his arm as he sat the unit on the work bench.

"I'll run the diagnostic, Sir. That's bleeding an awful lot, you should have Dr. Phlox take care of it." she crinkled her nose at how fast the towel was changing colors.

He nodded, "Thank you, Ensign. I'll be back shortly." He shook his head and wondered if this day would ever end.

As Malcolm walked into Sick Bay, the ever present and upbeat Denobulan doctor smiled brightly. "Ah, Mr. Reed - What do I owe the pleasure?" he questioned. The doctor quickly spied the towel and ushered the Tactical Officer to the sink.

"I had a disagreement with a piece of metal and much to my chagrin, I think the metal won." Malcolm tried to make light of the six inch gash as the doctor unwrapped the towel to take a look at the damage.

"I think you're right, the metal won." Doctor Phlox nodded as he rinsed off the man's forearm. He noticed that his patient flinched. "Is there a burning sensation?" he asked quickly.

Malcolm nodded and willed himself not to pass out. He was sure that if he did pass out, the doctor would keep him and run a multitude of tests on him.

The doctor quickly got a hypo out and injected the medicine into his arm. Phlox watched as his patient's breathing evened out and his arm relaxed. "Better? No more burning sensation?"

"It's stopped. Thank you." Malcolm tried to smile.

"Good." Phlox pulled out his medical tools and quickly sealed up the gash. He nodded in satisfaction as he ran the scanner over the man's arm after he finished. "All better." he smiled brightly. He went to retrieve his PADD, "Now, tell me about this metal that you had a disagreement with - where is it located?" he questioned.

"In the Armory, in one of the wall panels. Why do you need to write that down?" Malcolm asked.

"Because that piece of metal is oxidized and needs to be removed immediately." Phlox stated.

Malcolm frowned, "Oxidized metal doesn't cause a burning sensation." he pointed out.

Doctor Phlox nodded in agreement, "You are correct. Evidently, it didn't react well with the salve you've been putting on your arm to get rid of that allergic reaction you had a few days ago. The good news is the rash has gone away and you can stop putting that salve on your arm."

Malcolm closed his eyes and said a quick thanks - the salve had a nasty feel to it, like it had small pebbles in it. He opened his eyes and realized he'd been too quick to say thanks.

Doctor Phlox was pulling down another jar from his shelf and walked over to him. "This will ensure that you don't come down with anything from that cut." Phlox handed him the jar.

Malcolm eyed the purple gel, then opened the lid slowly. "Ugh! This smells worse than the last one! Is this really necessary? Don't we get tetanus injections for prevention?" he complained and quickly sealed the lid. He wrinkled his nose, he could still smell it. He could feel his blood pressure rising for the fifth time today.

Doctor Phlox raised an eyebrow at the Lieutenant's complaint. This was normal, that they went back and forth on his treatment and how long his recovery would take. The thing that was not normal was the man's blood pressure elevating so quickly. "Have you been feeling okay lately? Any extra stress added?" he questioned as he analyzed the readings on his scanner.

Malcolm ran his hands over his face. This day was not at all going as planned. He sighed in resignation, "Run whatever tests you want." he laid down on the examining table and crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.

Doctor Phlox quickly shut his dropped jaw and slid the man into the imaging chamber.


	3. Chapter 3

Just a little something

Chapter 3

Doctor Phlox looked at the readings on the monitor of the imaging chamber as his patient slid out. He could see no physical reason as to why his patient's blood pressure had skyrocketed. "Well, Mr. Reed, I see nothing wrong with you physically - you are in excellent shape." he pointed out.

Malcolm Reed sat up slowly and nodded. "I've just had a bad day, that's all." he stated softly as the doctor sat down on the stool beside the bed.

"Why don't you tell me what happened today?" he suggested.

Malcolm hesitated. He didn't like to talk about his personal life.

"_Reed men don't impose upon other people's valuable time with their petty problems, we work out our problems by ourselves"_ - at least that's what his father had always reminded him.

Malcolm looked at the Denobulan Doctor and couldn't help but remember how many times the man had put him back together after his mishaps. Even though he wasn't the most compliant patient, the man always treated him kindly. He took a deep breath, perhaps it was time to actually talk. "It started this morning with the treadmill . . ." Malcolm explained the events of the day.

Phlox nodded slowly when the man finished, "You've had a very challenging day. I understand how the treadmill, and the postponing of the weapons qualifications, and even the power fluctuation could get you upset - but why did the decorating of the Mess Hall upset you so much? I thought most of the crew enjoyed the holidays."

Malcolm frowned softly, "I've always like the holidays. It was the one time of year that my family was actually a pleasure to be around. My Nana would always host us for the holidays. She went all out every year, she'd bring out the decorations that had been in our family for hundreds of years. She'd always let me and my sister help put the ornaments on the tree with her and she'd tell us the history of each one." She had been such a historian. She could tell them their whole family history through those ornaments. He remembered his favorite ornament, an original replica of a field gun cannon. His great, great grandfather had been in charge of a field gun unit and they had fought bravely during the war. Malcolm had always been intrigued with weapons and how they worked. Not that he wanted to do harm to others, but he did feel a deep obligation to protect others. Malcolm looked up and realized he'd been reminiscing in front of the doctor.

Phlox stroked his chin, "My grandmother, Antalia, was very comforting to me, too. She would regale us with stories of our ancestors. Actually, she was the one that got me interested in studying medicine." He looked at his patient, "You talk about her in past tense, when did she die?" he asked softly.

Malcolm sighed heavily, "Just two weeks ago. I didn't think it would affect me as much as it has." he realized.

Phlox stood up slowly and put the stool back where it belonged, "We often deny ourselves the chance to grieve for those we are closest too." He walked back over to his patient, "I think now that you realize what has really been upsetting you, you'll be able to see the problems of today for what they are - just little problems."

Malcolm smiled softly as he got off the examining table, "Thank you." He took a deep breath, "Have you had dinner yet, Doctor?"

Phlox smiled brightly, "I haven't yet. Sounds like an excellent idea!"

The two men walked down the corridors quietly and stepped into the Mess Hall.

Malcolm smiled softly at the twinkling lights and the familiar holiday music playing over the speakers.

Trip came over quickly and patted his friend's back, "Hey, you're in a better mood!" he smiled.

Malcolm glanced at Phlox, then back to Trip. "Just had a lot of bumps in the road today."

Trip nodded as they went through the line and selected their dinners. "Happens to all of us."

Malcolm's eyes widened as they walked past the Christmas tree, or at least what was left of it. He looked at Trip quickly, "What in the world happened to the tree?" The poor thing had shrunk to only three-fourths its original height.

Trip took a deep breath, "It was so crooked. . . we decided to cut it and splice it together straight. You really can't tell." he tried to point out.

Phlox squinted at the tree, "What is that silver stuff?"

Trip frowned, "Duct tape - it was the only thing we could find to hold it together."

Malcolm smiled softly. He could tell his friend felt badly about the tree. "You can't really see the duct tape. I bet if we put enough decorations and lights on it, no one will be the wiser."

Trip smiled gratefully to his friend, then he snapped his fingers. "Hey, you got a package delivered with all of the cargo." He went over to the side table and brought over the nine inch by nine inch box. He inspected the address label, "Who's Nana?" he asked as he sat down.

Malcolm looked at the box and noted that it had started it's travels almost a month ago. He fingered the edges of the box carefully. "My Grandmother that died recently." he said softly.

Trip sighed softly, "I'm sorry about your grandmother, Malcolm." He glanced at the doctor, not sure what else to say.

Phlox smiled softly, "Mr. Reed, why don't you go ahead and open it?" he suggested.

Malcolm nodded slowly and pulled out his Leatherman from his pocket and used the knife tool to cut along the tape carefully. He opened the box and reached for the note on top.

_Dearest Malcolm,_

_ Here's just a little something for you this Christmas._

_ Love always,_

_ Nana_

Malcolm moved the tissue paper and blinked back the burning sensation in his eyes. He pulled out the small field gun cannon ornament. _Oh, Nana - you always knew_. He took in a calming breath and let it out slowly.

Phlox nodded and patted Malcolm's back, "A fine gift."

"Wow, that looks really old." Trip said in awe of the detailing on the ornament.

Malcolm nodded and smiled softly as he showed the ornament to his friends, "It has a very interesting story behind it . . ."


End file.
